Grammy® Award-winning global sensation, DJ and record executive, DJ Khaled, who is best known for his hip hop and R&B hit anthems, will be the international host for the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 (MAMA), airing globally for the first time beginning February 20th on MTV in 180 countries. Khaled will host the virtual awards ceremony from his glamourous home in Miami, Florida, alongside African co-emcees for the star-studded Kampala event.

“Africa is home to some of the world’s most dynamic talent and we’re excited to spotlight these artists as the MAMAs broadcast in 180 countries for the first time in MTV history,” said Bruce Gillmer, President of Music, Music Talent, Programming & Events for ViacomCBS Media Networks. “With Grammy Award-winning powerhouse DJ Khaled at the helm, we’re certain this will be an incredible, must-see global event.”

Monde Twala, Senior Vice President and General Manager at ViacomCBS Networks Africa (VCNA) said, “We are thrilled to have DJ Khaled as our international host for MAMA Kampala 2021. With his global success achievement and over 22 million followers on social media, he will inspire youth across the continent and attract an even bigger international audience to the virtual event. We can’t wait to showcase the latest African musical stars and culture to the MAMA themed MTV World Stage.”

“MTV has always been a great partner so I jumped at the opportunity to host this year’s MAMAs,” said DJ Khaled. “I can’t wait to celebrate the incredible music that comes out of Africa, which has inspired me throughout my career.”

A major force in the music industry, DJ Khaled, known as the “Anthem King” and commonly referred to as the “Quincy Jones of Hip Hop & R&B”, has made dozens of chart-topping hit records featuring JAY-Z, Kanye West, Drake, Chris Brown, Ludacris, T.I., French Montana, Future, Big Sean, Rick Ross, John Legend, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne, among others. He has been nominated for, and won, numerous music awards, including 13 BET Hip Hop Awards, one MTV Music Video Award and most recently, a Grammy.

The MAMA Kampala 2021 event will celebrate African talent across 20 award categories, including Best Male, Best Female, Best Song, and Best Collaboration. The contribution of artists from Portuguese and French-speaking Africa will also be recognized in the Best Lusophone and Best Francophone categories. Additional new categories included are the MAMA Generation Change Award, Best Fan Base, Alone Together Best Lockdown Performance and Personality of the Year.

Sixteen categories of the awards have been announced so far and voting is now open at www.mtvmama.com, and affiliated Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Voting in all categories closes on 31 January 2021. The MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 will be broadcast globally and on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) andMTV Africa (DStv Channel 130) on Saturday20 February 2021 at 20:00 WAT / 21:00 CAT / 22:00 EAT.

The votes are in for the first round of the Pan-African Listeners’ Choice category for the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 and the nominees have been announced. Twenty artists from 18 different African countries will now go head-to-head against one another as music fans across the continent put in their votes for their favourites. The winner will be revealed at the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 that will be hosted virtually in partnership with Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, on 20 February 2021.

The Listeners’ Choice category gives music lovers across the continent the opportunity to have their voices heard. The majority of the list of finalists for this category was determined by votes on local radio stations and social media, selecting the best publicly-voted musicians from different African countries.

“The MAMA is all about bringing the music to the people, celebrating the best that Africa has to offer and uniting us through African youth culture,” says Monde Twala, Senior Vice President and General Manager at ViacomCBS Networks Africa (VCNA). “The Listeners’ Choice Award embodies this philosophy, as it ensures that the voices of music lovers across the diverse countries on the continent are recognised.”

The nominees for the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 Listeners’ Choice category are:

Anna Joyce (Angola)
ASAPH (Zimbabwe)
Dagi D (Ethiopia)
DBN Gogo & DJ Dinho (South Africa)
Didi B (Cote D’Ivoire)
Drizilik (Sierra Leone)
Focalistic (South Africa)
Khaligraph Jones (Kenya)
Locko (Cameroon)
Malome Vector (Lesotho)
Meddy (Rwanda)
Mohamed Ramadan (Egypt)
Ngaaka Blindé (Senegal)
Pallaso (Uganda)
Rayvanny (Tanzania)
Sarkodie (Ghana)
Shirazee (Benin)
Slick Stuart & DJ Roja (Uganda)
Souhila Ben Lachhab (Algeria)
Tiwa Savage (Nigeria)

The MAMA is brought to you in partnership with Uganda, The Pearl of Africa to recognize and reward musicians, trailblazers and those who are shining a light on the continent’s diverse talent and creativity by having a positive impact on African music and youth culture over the previous year. The MAMA also provides the opportunity to expand the African narrative by showcasing Uganda’s diversity, culture, talent, heritage and wildlife, to a global audience.

The winner will be revealed at the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 that will be hosted virtually in partnership with Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, on 20 February 2021 at 20:00 WAT / 21:00 CAT / 22:00 EAT.

To support your country’s artists, please go to www.mtvmama.com and vote for your favourite in the Listeners’ Choice category. Voting closes on 31 January 2021.

For more information on the MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021, please go to www.mtvmama.com, like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MTVBaseVerified, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @MTVBaseAfrica. To join the conversation about the awards, please use the hashtag #MTVMAMA2021 #VISITUGANDA.

Source: ameyawdebrah.com

The organisers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs), Charterhouse Ghana are calling on qualified Ghanaian creatives to submit their projects under the year of review ahead of the 22nd edition of the annual event that seeks to celebrates recording and performing talents who have been phenomenal in their endeavor in the country and across the continent in various genres including highlife, Afropop, hiplife and traditional music.

According to organization, the board has started sitting to categorize works that are being submitted from all over the country and beyond. Musicians and other industry practitioners interested in submitting their works are encouraged to visit www.entry.ghanamusicawards.com to enter their works online or to download entry forms which must be submitted at the offices of Charterhouse Productions Ghana not later than 15 February 2021.

Organized in partnership with the Musicians the Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and under the auspices of and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards scheme, which is now in its 22nd year, has grown into a Festival of Music and Entertainment that engages the entire country and beyond.

As part of the build up towards this grand celebration often slated for the month of May, selected members of the Board and other stakeholders are engaging various arms of the industry in a series of dialogues and interactions aimed at improving the scheme for this year and beyond. The outcome of these engagements will be shared with the General Public soon.

The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Festival is largely a people’s choice awards scheme that seeks to foster the development of the Ghanaian music industry by rewarding and celebrating musicians who have excelled in the seven main music genres of Ghanaian Music; Gospel, Hip-life, Hip hop, Highlife, Afro Pop, Reggae/Dancehall and Traditional. Their music should have been released and received prominence during the year under review.

Last year, the awards ceremony was held virtually on 28 and 29 August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme also honoured the efforts of health workers during the crisis. Highlife singer Kuami Eugene won the coveted Artist of the Year Award. He also picked up his third Highlife Artist of the Year trophy. Other fixtures at the VGMAs, including Sarkodie, Medikal and Kofi Kinaata, will also be looking to make their mark this year.

Read statement below;

The Recording Academy announced on Tuesday that the ceremony will not take place on Jan. 31, as previously scheduled, but is instead being pushed off until March 14, after it succumb to the uprise and concerns raised about the spread of the global pandemic, Coronavirus. In most years, the awards ceremony takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which is also where the 2021 ceremony was scheduled to take place.

The Los Angeles area, however, is experiencing a significant increase of COVID-19 infections that is expected to worsen, as NPR reported earlier Tuesday. The LA County director of health services, Dr. Christina Ghaly, said at a briefing Monday that many regional hospitals “have reached a point of crisis” and are being forced to make “very tough decisions about patient care.”

The Recording Academy, its broadcast partner CBS, and the event’s executive producer, Ben Winston (who is in his first year in that role), issued a joint statement Tuesday which read: “After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards to be broadcast Sunday, March 14, 2021. The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.”

The news of the Grammy Awards’ delay was first reported Tuesday afternoon by Rolling Stone and Variety, which cited anonymous sources.

This year was supposed to represent something of a fresh start for the Grammys, which were overshadowed last year by a variety of bombshell accusations made by the Recording Academy’s now-ousted, short-lived former chief, Deborah Dugan, including allegations of sexual misconduct against her predecessor, Neil Portnow, and the Academy’s general counsel and former board chair, Joel Katz (who both denied the accusations). She also made accusations of financial mismanagement, self-dealing and vote rigging. Dugan was replaced by the Academy’s chairman and now interim chief executive, Harvey Mason Jr.

[Up until about a decade ago, I was a Grammy voter, and also served on one of the small “craft” committees that judges one of a handful of Grammy categories outside the “nomination review” process, and that are not voted on by the general membership. In addition, my husband, Joshua Sherman, is also a former Grammy voter and Grammy committee member; he was also part of teams that created several Grammy-winning recordings, and he produced several other Grammy-nominated albums.]